The Day Of The Dragons
by feathers15
Summary: Lucy travelled back in time in order to change the past- to save the future. But what happened to her on the 7th of July, X791 in her own time that led her to travel through the Eclipse Gate?


**Hey!**

**So, before I start writing any big chapter stories again, I thought I would post a series of short one shots. I don't really have the time to write much any more because of A Levels and I wouldn't want to keep you waiting with chapters, so I thought so I could still write, this would be the best way forward**

**This is the first time I have written a story quite like this, but I thought I would give it a go**

**If anyone has any pairing suggestions or songs for one shots, I'm open for requests! And don't forget to leave a review!**

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**I do not own Fairy Tail, it belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima**

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**The Day Of The Dragons**

_**7th July, X791**_

_**.**_

There was rubble strewn across the ground. Some pieces from buildings which once stood tall and proud, all now mere heaps of debris littering what used to be roads. Others, charred limbs which had belonged to trees that lined the street, their leaves of lush green now skeletons in the wind.

Fires flicker and crackle, spewing thick clouds of smoke into the darkening sky as far off screams and explosions fill the air. Dragons roars reverberate and ricochet off of still standing buildings and haphazard supports ripped bare of bricks.

Through the chaos, a woman stumbles; tripping on stray concrete and the upturned roads, cracked and collided, creating small mountains. Her blond hair is horribly dishevelled, clothes ripped and ruined, and far beyond repair. Her once flawless complexion is now tarnished forever. Skin grazed and burnt, crimson in colour from the deep gashes which will scar, eternally reminding her of this day.

The day the dragons came through the door.

_The day the world ended._

She is aimless as she wanders through the waste land which was once Crocus. Mere hours ago, the city was extravagant, filled with people celebrating the end of The Grand Magic Games. Fairy Tail, after seven humiliating years of failures and ridicule, had finally risen back to their place as the number one guild in Fiore. They had been celebrating their victory.

She remembers laughing not to long ago, standing beside her blue haired best friend as music blared inside of the small tavern the guild had found themselves in. As always, Fairy Tail knew how to throw a party. The alcohol flowing, smiles broad and brawls, as always, inevitable. However, no one had anticipated the war that would follow, not just a mere fight among friends.

_The first sign of them was their roars._

Ear splitting and mind bending; a reverberating battle cry of a dragon that should be long dead and dust. Yet upon leaving the bar in a hurried rush, they were all met with the impossible.

A towering creature with glistening scales covering it's enormous body. Wings large and its teeth as sharp as blades. For a moment, the world appeared to stop, as if even the earth was captivated by the ancient beast, a remnant of time, stood proudly amongst the prime example of the future it had arrived into. Then, in a swift move, a whole neighbourhood- eliminated as jets of it's retrospective element spewed from it's mouth in a deadly torrent. That wasn't the only beast, more followed. Each different, yet as deadly. A dragon of jade, and one of entirely fire, glass, rock. So many. So much destruction.

The spell bounding image suddenly shattered as jets of flames spewed from buildings and screams of terror accompanied by the harmony of bricks from crumbling buildings colliding with the ground, filled the air. That's when everyone snapped out of their captivation and leapt into action, running into the chaos towards the great beasts. As they did, time itself seemed to slow down as the pandemonium around her began.

She remembers watching as Gray Fullbuster, Fairy Tail's Ice Mage, looked into the paled, terrified face of Juvia Lockser. He had extended his hand to her, startling the blue haired woman for a moment before she took it and nodded, running into the distance hand in hand towards the sound of explosions. Erza Scarlet, the Titania, had requipped before heading in a different direction from Gray and Juvia. She never said a word, but it was apparent from the look in her eyes that she was looking for Jellal Fernandez amongst the destruction. The Strauss siblings had all changed forms before heading straight into the fight. Levy McGarden need only look at the Iron Dragon slayer before they both ran together towards the nearest dragon after Cana. Said woman pulling her cards from her bag as she ran into the fight, as her father would have. A crying Asuka was passed to Romeo who was told to run as far away from the destruction as possible. Bisca and Alzack had kissed their daughter with burning eyes as Macao embraced his son and told him he'd see him soon, before following the rest of the guild as they ventured towards the dragons.

She hadn't realized or even for a second _ever_ allowed herself to believe that, that moment would be the last time she will ever see any of her comrades, her _friends, _again.

As the blond had readied her keys to follow her Nakama, and other guilds now emerging, into the fray a warm pair of arms that belonged to a pink haired man stopped her. In her ear his hot breath left a message for her, before, like the rest of her friends, he was also gone- tailed by his flying blue companion. Leaving an ache of fear deep within her chest when he finally faded from her sight.

_"Please be safe, Luce. I promise, I will find you again. Just be safe for me." _

The aching worry that constricts her throat more than the carbon fog stops her in her tracks in the midst of what once used to be the promenade. The woman stares out over the once blue water which now is dark and ashen, distorted reflections of blazing fires and daemons that spread their wings catching her wavering attention. She has no idea how she had travelled this far across town on her shoeless feet, yet here she is in the upturned streets with clouds of smoke impeding her vision after a hundred meters. She doesn't know if it is day or night, but whether it is the sun or moon in the sky, it is nothing more than a black sphere looming above her broken body.

A rustling too the blonds left suddenly steals her attention away from the polluted water and towards the wall of grey obscuring her vision. Fear spikes in her cheat as she breaths in suddenly, taking a step away from the noise as she reaches for the charred and blood stained key pouch on her waist. It is obvious too her that if this is what she thinks, a towering beast of death, then she will inevitably die. She may possess the power of the stars, but the young Celestial Mage is not stupid; almost all of her spirits were forced back into their world battered beyond recognition, the few left who weren't wont be enough to save her life.

_But she is a Fairy Tail mage, she will never give in._

Her fingertips land of the heated metal of one of her keys, however before she can summon the spirit, a silhouette in amongst the sheen of grey stops her in her tracks. Then a vibrant pink inking through the thick smoke, followed by the emerging of a tall, muscular man who's neck is adorned by a shredded, scaled scarf which was once white; now a dull grey.

For a split second, the woman's heart stops in her chest. A mixture of disbelief and delight taking over as she speaks his name with her hoarse voice. The syllables slipping through her lips before her mind can register that she has spoken, as if his name is as innate as breathing.

"Natsu?"

At the sound of the woman's astonished voice, the figure snaps his weary head towards her. His onyx eyes meet hers and, for a moment, shock is the only expression on his face, before a mixture of delight and relief prevails and a small, toothy grin graces his lips.

"Luce... You're safe, thank God..."

Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, a tear slips down the pink haired Dragon Slayers bruised cheeks as his footing fails him and he sails towards the ashen ground. The man makes no move to stop his decent, however, the blond does.

Lunging forward in a swift move, Lucy grabs Natsu's considerably broader frame, crashing to the floor with him in her arms. Grunting slightly from the pain of his weight crushing her bruised limbs, the blond, with slight difficulty, repositions them so that the pink haired man's head is resting in the crook of her left arm. His shoulder blades against the bare, blemished skin of her thighs as she sits on her legs, tiny shards of what is left of buildings digging into her skin.

"Natsu, where is everyone? Where's Happy?" Looking away from the imploring blond, the man begins to shake as a whimper escapes his lips. "N- Natsu? Wh- where is he?"

Lucy asks more persistently, a fear swirling in the pit of her stomach at Natsu's quietness. The blue exceed was never far behind the pink haired man. Happy was like Natsu's son, and best friend, all in one. They had known each other since Happy's birth; he had been raised by the Dragon Slayer. For him not to be by his side in such a situation could only mean-

"He's dead."

"No..." The blond breaths, staring onto the sidewards face of the barer of bad news in her arms, not wanting her fears to be true. Her heart stopping in her chest as the image of the blue cat with the horrible habit of insulting her weight, comes to mind. "Happy can't be dead... Natsu, tell me he isn't dead..."

"I- I took on a dragon. Dragon slaying magic, _my_ magic, was made for this day. But it was too strong, I couldn't defeat it... It was about too finish me off wh- when Happy... He flew in and grabbed me. He was hit and... Dammit!"

The man breaks down, cursing through clenched teeth as tears rolled down his battered face, bruised and cut from his fight. Swollen under his eye slightly, and a gash bleeding on his forehead, leaving blood to trickle down his face as rain will roll off of glass.

_Pain._

Pain is all that is felt by the Celestial Mage holding her broken best friend in her arms. Her lip trembling as she tries to hold back a sob.

She knows that death is an ever looming thing.

She had watched her mother die, her illness leaving her condition to deteriorate until her heart simply stopped- leaving her fragile daughter alone at the age of 10 with no family but heart broken father who turned into a violent man obsessed with nothing more than personal gain. After she was trapped in a time rift for seven years, she discovered her father had died, leaving a bitter taste of regret in her mouth for the way the two had treated each other after her mothers death. She had loved her father, yet never told him. Even her 'little sister', Michelle, had 'died' in front of her eyes when she was in the animated form of the doll she used to play with as a child. The doll she christened her little sister.

Yet, regardless of this fact, she didn't ever think about the day Happy would die. She doesn't want it too be that day, or for any of the destruction and death, screams and blood and _dragons_ to be real.

"N- Natsu, tell me that this is a nightmare... Tell me I will wake up."

"I wish I could but... But I can't lie to you, Lucy. I'- I'm sorry." Sucking in a breath, it's the blond turn to look away at his response. She knew it had been far fetched to believe that by some divine intervention, this would all be rectified by being nothing more than a nightmare. Yet, even knowing how far fetched her wish was, it still pains her that this isn't something that can be fixed as easily as simply opening your eyes, if ever. "But... A dream did come true, for me..."

Peering back into the man's coal eyes, her face contorts into one laden with confusion. Her brows knitting together tightly together as he looks down at him.

"What?"

"I thought th- that you had been... Lost. In the chaos... But, you're here... Alive. That makes me happy... That was my dream come true..."

"Natsu-"

"When I heard your voice, and I wasn't... Imagining it." He starts, nostalgia throwing him back in time as he smiles at his treasured memories, while in Lucy's arms. Her intoxicating smell wrapping him up and embracing him. The beauty can not stop the dull pain to the sharp stabbings, but it is making it slightly more tolerable, as he rambles to the woman looking down on him with her large, brown doe eyes. "It reminded m- me of the day I first... Met you. When... You're voice grabbed my attention and- and you became the... The person I care most about... You changed my whole life... No matter how much of a- a weirdo you are, I- I'd never change that moment in Hargeon f- for the world..."

Dumbstruck and speechless at the Dragon Slayers rather spontaneous admission of how much she means to him, Lucy shifts her legs slightly at the twisting in her stomach and heating of her cheeks.

With her shift, a stabbing shoots through Natsu's body causing him to whimper and spasm in agony. Internally cursing himself, the pink haired man regrets he could not hold back his pained yelp as Lucy's eyes suddenly grow in fear. Her imploring orbs look over his face before darting down at his stomach, where the blood has begun to stain through his shirt. He notes how her face grows pale as she gently jabs at the fabric only for her fingers to become coated in a layer of the sticky red liquid. His heightened sense of smell, as well as the unbelievable pain in his abdomen, had alerted him to the fact that blood was vacating his stomach through a substantial wound, he just didn't want Lucy to know. He didn't want her to worry and for any chance of a smile to vanish.

Grabbing the fabric of Natsu's shirt, Lucy carefully pulls it away to reveal a long, deep gash across his lower abdomen. Blood is pooling in the wound and flowing over the torn skin down his slightly tan flesh, allowing the metallic tasting fluid to trickle onto the floor and collect dust.

Heart missing a beat, Lucy has to remind herself to breath. The amount of blood is astonishing, terrifying... Fatal.

"N- Natsu, you're bleeding... Y- you're hurt..."

"I'm sorry... Lucy. I'm so sorry..."

"No!" The woman cries, shaking her head violently while clutching the man tighter in her trembling arms. Tears have welled behind her orbs, blurring her vision.

The blond had seen death in her life. Her whole family had died. One of her best friends and partners has died protecting the man in her arms and now he... Natsu, is dying. Something she has never considered, not even for a second; not having her pink haired dragon slayer around.

She can't let him go.

_She wont._

"I wont except this, Natsu! I wont let you leave me! You always saved me, now it's my turn to save you!"

"Lucy..."

"I just have to stop the b-bleeding, then I'll find- I'll find Wendy..." The blond declares suddenly, her voice breaking and pained as she sniffs. Pulling off and scrunching up what remains of her armlet, Lucy pushes it against the large open wound in her partners stomach in a vein attempt to impede the bleeding. The Celestial Mage's tears begin to break the dams which held them back, allowing tears to start carving trails down her face. "S- she'll heal you and then it'll be okay. It has to be okay..."

"Shh..." Lifting a shaking hand, Natsu gently strokes Lucy's golden hair away from her face, before resting his palm against her cheek. As she leans into his touch, the pink haired man wipes her tears away with the pad of his thumb before they are replaced with a fresh batch. His words are quiet and scratchy; uncharacteristic for the normally buoyant man who now is laying bleeding in his best friends arms. "It's... Okay, Lucy..."

"No, no it's not!"

"It is, it's okay because you're okay... I thought- I thought you were lost in the chaos... But you're safe, so I'm-" Coughing, blood spews from his lips before rolling down his chin. "I'm happy."

"Natsu..."

"The only thing... I regret is- is not... Starting a whole new adventure with you... Just us..."

"Eh?"

Lucy questions bewildered as she stares into Natsu's charcoal eyes, which, much to the blonds distress, are burning out. Like the embers on a flames that are cooling. Confusion plagues the blond mind, hand in hand with the terror at the amount of blood leaving the man's body.

"I wanted too, one... One day, to have... Our own adventure. I can't explain it... But... I wanted to spend every moment... Every _second_ with you... To keep you safe and happy and smiling... And... _Mine_..."

"Natsu..."

Streams of steaming tears quickly stain Lucy's cheeks. A mixture of fear at the prospect of loosing the man in her arms, but mainly, butterflies, over taking her. _Butterflies_. A scary yet exhilarating realization hits the Celestial Mage, as she looks into the eyes of the person she cares most about most in this world, and the next. The realization that this adventure Natsu is describing, Lucy wants too. A lot.

Just them.

_Theirs_.

Unexpectedly, the pink haired man suddenly smiles up at the blond, despite the overwhelming pain and blood that is oozing from his body, dribbling from his lips, with every second that passes. His smile, like an infection, pulls at the corner of Lucy's lips, bringing a small smile to her face as the blond looks down onto the man she is cradling. She really is the most beautiful person he had ever had the honour of laying eyes upon; like an angel fallen from heaven, so angelic and ethereal.

And that smile... He is glad that the last smile he will ever see belongs to her.

"And I was... I was all re... Reeved... Up..."

With the last exhale, there came no more. The mans head lolls slightly to the side, eyes still open but so empty, so dead. Their light all but gone leaving nothing but empty orbs. His hand which had been caressing the beaten cheek of the blond, falling to his side with a thud as his knuckles collide with the ground beneath him. All suffering breaths and struggled words of admission, ended.

_At the same time as his failed, the blonds heart broke._

"N-Natsu?"

Lucy shakes his body slightly, her worst fears suddenly become true as she stares at the limp man in her arms. Shaking violently, the blond begins to hyperventilate as tears tumble from her eyes like heavy rain in autumn. Shaking her best friend in her arms, Lucy shouts at his lifeless body. Anger spreading throughout her body like wild fire as he does not reply- just simply lays not breathing.

"Natsu! Don't you dare give up on me now, wake up! Wake up you bakka! I told you I believed in you, ever since I joined the guild, so prove too me I was right too! Wake up and fight and win like you always do! Natsu! Nastu!"

Her cries and begging are forsaken as the man does not stir from his eternal sleep. The mages tears are as scorching as the flames Natsu used to control and contort as they fall from her orbs onto his skin. The liquid warms his slowly cooling flesh only slightly. The fire of Lucy's agony though is not enough to return the spark which once lived deep within the man's chest.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman suddenly throws her head towards the sky and lets an agonising scream escape her lungs and tear through the air around her. Her anguish burning along every nerve in her body, leaving nothing more but numbness in her extremities. Her chest. Her soul.

Finally, her voice breaks. Throat stinging and soar, head throbbing in pain- but none of that concerns her. She does not care, for she is dead inside. Heaving, she drops her head as she weeps into the dead man's chest.

"Please don't let me go, Natsu..."

...

Lucy stayed by Natsu's side until he became cold, clutching his catatonic body as if the survival of the world depended on it. Violent shaking and pained screams slowly deteriorated into quivering and quaking breaths. Time still leaking by but long forgotten; irrelevant.

She does not care for her fate, if a dragon where to obliterate where she sat in the next second and for her to become nothing more than dust on the earth- she would not mind. She would be with Natsu, where ever he faded away too. She would not be alone hurting worse than any physical blow could cause, be frightened.

_She's afraid to let go of him. Afraid to leave him behind. He never left her behind before._

That's when the pink haired man's voice whispers in her mind. An echo of time past against her ear, where his lips had been when he had asked something of her.

_Just be safe for me._

"Natsu..." Lifting her head from his shoulder and staring into the face of the man she is mourning, Lucy lifts her right hand and carefully closes his eyes before resting her palm on his chest. Leaning down slowly, the blonds delicate lips meet the flesh of his forehead where she places a kiss- bitter sweet irony. Spots of blood not yet dried stain her lips crimson, yet she does not notice as she finally relinquishes her grip on the man enveloped in her grasp.

Delicately, she rests Natsu's back against the ground, careful not to move him to much in fear he will break- as if he if a china doll. Unravelling his scaled scarf from around his neck, the Celestial Mage hugs it closely to her chest. The fabric, coarse and fraying from it's treatment during the battle, smells like her Dragon Slayer. Urging a fresh batch of tears, which Lucy forcefully holds back, to arise. Her voice is hushed and weak. "I promise I will find our future... "

Pushing up and supporting her weight on numbed legs, the blond allows one more look upon the dead man, before once again venturing into the battlefield. With every step she takes away from Natsu's body, she tightens her grip on his scarf; the last physical things she has left of him. Her heart falling into a deep, irretrievable sorrow as the time passes.

_"To protect our future." _


End file.
